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The preamp is EAR 864 (valves with output trannies), quite a heavy and solid one. I am in a tweaking mood but I'd love to hear some recommendations first. Would you try to improve its sound trying to reduce vibrations in it and how? Would you place it on a granite slab coupled with spikes, or would you place it on granite slab and put soft cushion or inner tube to decouple it?
What is the common knowledge re valve preamps, what normally works better?
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Page 46 "De-noising a Vanilla Preamp" "Follow this author's vibration-reduction tips to achieve some rewarding audio results"Tweak #15 "Add foam dampers to the long wires running between the input jacks and selector switch. MAJOR IMPROVMENT in sound quality-sense of liveliness, purity, dynamics."
By Darcy Staggs
Herbies-O-Labs damping rings and I love the sound. I have it also over a set of four Isolblocks (from www.questforsound.com) and on top of it a Damping Plate (from www.avisolation.com), everything over a rigid shelf of a Billybags Audio Rack. Sound is outstanding.
I use FIM 305 roller blocks with my Tube preamp and I'm very happy with the results.
You could go nuts & do one of the few universal mounts, Mapleshade. They are ridculous on gear with transformers & entail coupling & de-coupling all at once in an effort to remove loads of distortion.to do it right costs $400. an inner tube is much cheaper.
draining a preamps vibrations into a suspended tonewood plinth is a killer tweak.
Of course there is no substitute for individual experimentation...but under my tube preamp I have tried roller bearings, BDR cones, Herbie's, Vibrapods/cones, but the best in my system has been the Mapleshade cones on a thick maple platform sitting on isoblocks. It just sounded the best all around without a loss of detail or sounding too "dead".That said, you can save some $$ by sourcing the maple platform from somewhere else. There are several woodworking supply places that have air dried maple...for significantly less...shipping will probably be more than the cost of the wood...if they will do a small order...the isoblocks you can source through an industrial supply place...see link.
- http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.altNumKey=238160 (Open in New Window)
I know of 2 sources, Timbernation & Mapleshade. If $ is no object, the only way to fly is mapleshade's 4" thick 18" x 24" board, under my TT it makes Timbernation's 3" thick kiln dried wood sound like a wet sock. I have 3 TN plats & 1 Mapleshade...wish it was ALL air dried.Could you list some links for air dried??
TN has only limited supply of air dried, its about 10% more than Kiln.
Also, don't buy those generic Isoblocks! they have that waffle neoprene & difft amounts (thickness) of cork. Check out a friends actual set of Isoblocks, take measurements and go to a hardware store & buy the same thing. Also, if this friend will let you pull apart the 2 parts of an Isoblocks, try and replicate the sticky glue...its not standard stuff.Cut & glue the identical generics to get Isoblocks, otherwise you're pissing into a headwind. I've tried to replicate Isoblocks sonics wise, its difficult. I end up spending $18 at the hardware store and still don't have the right glue. $24 for Mapleshade's is not a rip-off to me.
Now, if pierre sold them for $50 a set i'd declare 'shananigans'.
i've peeled apart 1 Isoblock layer by layer. these can be done generically but you must use the exact same materials.
since getting into isolation i've seen no less than 10 difft types of generic isoblocks. be careful, hunt dilligently & you'll end up with good stuff.
The site I used to shop has shut down...but Glimerwood has some nice wood. However, they want a min $100 order to ship.Check to see that the featured wood is air dried because they carry both. Although both "air dried" and "kiln dried" are not 100% dry...just more dry than green...as moisture content varies...esp with the environmental conditions which can lead to warping and splitting.
What you want to look for are "bowl blanks". They show up on eBay too. But you have to be willing to sift through the stock to find something pretty close to what you are looking for...or have the time/desire to work the wood yourself as these are rough blanks...some rougher than others. But they are not assuming a done product, but that they will be turned.
Was also not trying to infer that Pierre's products were outrageously priced or that the linked product was a 1 for 1 with his...just providing an alternative if one is on a tighter budget.
FWIW - I own and use both the linked industrial product and the Mapleshade product...and am a big fan of his cones and have given him a lot of my money over the years with no regrets!
Also this site has some air dried as well...
http://stores.pennswoodsstock.net/StoreFront.bok?cart_id=3504527
I would suggest trying the barely inflated inner tube.
It's quick easy and cheap and always worth trying.
What I have found from 8 years of tweaking is that there are very few universals.
Should I place an inner tube directly under my preamp, or first preamp, than wooden or granite plate than inner tube?
... pre-amp!
I would start with the tube directly under the pre.
It may have to be off-centre to balance as one corner of the pre will have much of the mass.
I have literally used 4 strokes of a bicycle pump to get the right result.
Put (over)simply you want the minimum to raise the feet off the shelf.
This may not be the arrangement you finish up using, but it is a reasonable place to start.
A large maple Block under a tube preamp can sound heavenly . Thats what I have under my Extended Foreplay III .
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